1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to searching and in particular relates to searching apparatus configured to identify commercial suppliers in response to a specified key word.
2. Description of the Related Art
Search engines that facilitate the searching of available data that may be supplied in electronic form are well known. Initially, these search engines were established by academic institutions and were configured primarily to disseminate research information and similar studies.
More recently, searching activities of this type have been deployed in more commercial environments. In particular, in response to a user's request for commercial information, possibly identifying suppliers of particular goods or services, search engines are known that can provide a list of suppliers that are available to provide goods or services of the requested type.
When services of this type have been implemented using internet technology, it is common practice for the search results to be provided to a user without charge, thereby remaining consistent with other internet activities. Thus, a search engine may provide a list of contacts in the form of a web page having links to supplier's websites etc. When a user accesses a supplier's website via the search material, the search provider obtains information to this effect. The service provider is then in a position to submit a charge to the advertising supplier based on the number of hits that have taken place. It is therefore advantageous from the service provider's perspective for the service to be used and for many hits to occur. A problem with this approach is that the information provided by known search engines makes the information available in a relatively dry form and as such users are less encouraged to make active use of the service and are not attracted to particular suppliers. Furthermore, the user is often presented with long lists of data from which it is often very time consuming and tedious to selected a desired supplier's web site.
It is an object of the present invention to at least substantially reduce or overcome the above described problems.